She was ready for the next series of activities planned:
A Duck Tour followed by the London Eye followed by St. Paul's Cathedral followed by collapsing at home.
Fortunately the Duck tour wouldn't start until 11:30, so it was a relatively relaxing morning with plenty of coffee for Megan (and me) as needed.
Once again, the checklist was run:
Bag packed? Check.
Plenty of snacks? Check.
Diapers and wipes? Check and check.
Various cars, knights, and sticker books? Check.
Children clothed with shoes on? Check, check, check.
Did the boys go to the bathroom? Check.
Keys, wallet, phone, and oyster card? Check.
It's a wonder we get anything done at all. Thank goodness Megan helped expedite things and we headed off to catch the bus!
The trip down went smoothly and we arrived in plenty of time for the tour, so we found ways to spend that time.
With time for another restroom break, we were more than ready when our Duck finally arrived!
The boys were excited to hop aboard, especially since our Duck (Elizabeth) was a World War II veteran. The guide was witty and engaging, and chattered nearly nonstop.
The ride through town was great with entertaining facts (Winston Churchill's statue across from Big Ben is electrified so no pigeons will land on him long enough to befoul his mighty head).
Just when the boys were getting restless, we drove next door to MI6 (a building full of spies, as this is James Bond's office headquarters and seen in multiple films!) and down into the Thames!
The splashdown was great and the boys loved it. We had some good shots of Big Ben from the water.
We puttered through the Thames for a bit, then turned around and headed back to MI6 (our passageway in and out of the water is to the left of MI6 in this picture).
Then we were quickly (or as quickly as London traffic allows) back to where we boarded.
Although the boys had enjoyed the tour, they were really only in it for the water ride.
We meandered over to the Thames and found a great place for lunch - the Southbank Centre.
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk
That day they had a jazz festival, so we enjoyed a leisurely meal with the music floating through the ground floor. Lanna wiggled her appreciation.
After lunch we went to the London Eye. As visiting tourists we were all contractually obligated to go to the Eye at least once.
Alisa met us there and we joined the queue. Like Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, they let us go right to the front!
When it was our turn to board, Joey boldly went into our little sphere. It never stopped moving so we were strongly encouraged to step smartly into it.
A few others joined us in the sphere. Fortunately there was a bit of air movement inside. If there had not been, we all would have suffocated from the pungent perfumes emanating from a young (possibly newlywed) couple.
The sphere slowly began it's half hour trip around the Eye. Since it was a piercingly bright November afternoon, it was brilliant, making Big Ben sparkle and the Thames look as if someone had thrown millions of iridescent diamonds on its surface.
We all sat and enjoyed the peaceful view (except Lanna who was blissfully asleep).
As we got higher, we walked around the sphere (but giving the young couple a few feet of space to avoid their perfumy miasma).
The views towards the north and slightly east showed the Jubilee Bridge and Waterloo Bridge beautifully.
Joey wanted to be sure he got his picture with Aunt Megan too.
Soon we were the highest point!
Crazily enough, there was a bit of rain as we reached the top but this quickly blew through. We watched the storm race across the northern part of London and leave us alone after that sprinkling.
Then the sun became almost too bright as we looked to the west and Big Ben during our slow ascent. Given my penchant of taking pictures directly into the sun, this was a perfect photo op!
And before we knew it, the doors opened again with delicious crisp, fresh, unscented autumn air and we hopped out.
A shy rainbow awaited us outside the Eye's exit.
We decided to walk along the Thames, enjoying the gorgeous day.
I can't remember at what point we decided to go to St. Paul's Cathedral but our relaxing stroll soon had a purpose.
We saw festive and fun sites along the way like the Christmas Markets around the Thames and sand castles on its small beaches.
We crossed over the Blackfriar's Bridge and walked up to St. Paul's.
Admittedly, I didn't know much about this cathedral before we got there aside from the fact the famous Christopher Wren designed it.
I've learned a bit more since that visit, but let me give you a more thorough and trustworthy site that does justice to this nearly thousand year old cathedral:
https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/history/cathedral-history-timeline
We were pretty awed walking in with the hugely vaulted ceilings and a giant dome soaring over our heads.
Since we had arrived so late in the afternoon, we decided to go for the climb to the whispering gallery before time ran out.
Despite the climb, the boys did well. Despite the incredibly narrow passageway to get into the whispering gallery, Alisa did well. We admired the view down into the cathedral but didn't test the famed acoustics.
We looked up and saw the top of the tower above. I was kinda curious to see it. We asked Joey if he wanted to see it to which he replied "Yes, it looks pretty cool up there."
Then Sammy chimed in, "I want to go too."
Megan was interested as well.
Knowing what we know now, we all probably would have deferred climbing up further. Here's the layout to the dome:
https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/history/explore-the-cathedral/climb-the-dome
The bottom line is that Megan, Joey, Sammy and I ascended 278 feet up to reach the Golden Gallery.
To get there, I pretty much carried Sammy the entire way because I didn't trust him to climb the narrow, eroded stone steps.
We did get a break at the Stone Gallery (a mere 174 feet above the ground floor). The views were very good and we felt the trip was almost worth it.
Beyond the Stone Gallery, things got interesting. The stairways were even more challenging. They were very narrow metal spiral staircases that went up through the middle of the dome with space all around. It was a potent combination of heights with a bizarre sense of claustrophobia as the dome curved in toward you from above.
Once again, I carried Sammy and gripped the rails tight.
We made it. We tried to move pretty quickly since a few dozen high school kids had started to climb up behind us.
Before going up one final stairway to look upon London from the Golden Gallery, they had a tiny window with a view right to the main floor of St. Paul's.
"That guy looks tiny down there." Joey commented.
I was too winded to reply.
When we stepped out to the thin circular balcony the views were amazing.
We enjoyed a brief stay up there, but given the handful of others there and the lack of space and the incoming horde of high school students, we started back down.
Going back down was much less intimidating, which was a relief. I still carried Sammy because if anything bad is going to happen to any of our family, it's him. We didn't really need him to cartwheel back down to the ground.
When we returned to the Stone Gallery, the sun was setting, casting all of London in a golden orange light.
We did stop to enjoy this view, knowing it was a once in a lifetime experience.
When the sun set fully, we finished the climb, meeting Lanna and Alisa back in the cathedral. Lanna was busy toddler-sprinting through the broad wings of St. Paul's with her happy chatter echoing off the walls.
The walk home was very enjoyable as it did not involve heights nor narrow stairways.
Day two had taken us from the waters of the Thames to some of the highest points in London. We all survived and felt pretty good about our chances of making it through another action-packed day before Aunt Megan had to leave.
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